This post was written by Kelly Bennett, Business Reference and Research Specialist in the Science & Business Reading Room.
The Library of Congress recently acquired a rare first edition work by Barthélemy de Laffemas, entitled Règlement General pour Dresser les Manufactures, or General Regulations for the Establishment of Manufactures, published in 1597. This early mercantilist work promoted the establishment of factories, encouraging the domestic manufacture of most finished products within France.
Barthélemy de Laffemas, born in Dauphiné in 1545, began his career as a tailor, but eventually became a successful merchant and writer. His ideas on economic and social reform caught the attention of King Henry IV of France who appointed him Controlleur Général du Commerce in 1602. Règlement General pour Dresser les Manufactures was among Laffemas’s most influential works.
The full title of this work in English is the following:
General regulation for the establishment of manufactures in this kingdom to contain the cost of silk fabric and other merchandise that harms and ruins the state, which is the true way of restoring France to her splendor, provide work for the poor, and keep them from begging for a living.
Henry IV hoped to restore France and its economy following decades of religious wars. Laffemas proposed a selective form of protectionism, calling for the manufacturing of most finished products be done in France. Particular emphasis was put on silk production, as the Italians had a monopoly on the silk trade in Europe with manufacturing centers in Genoa, Bologna and Venice. “We need to take up the monopolies and misfortunes introduced here by silk, gold and silver fabric, and other such merchandise coming from foreign countries, which is part of the ruin of the state,” wrote Laffemas, “and if the French were as bold in manufacturing as they are in litigation, they would prevent said foreigners from creating such franchises and associations, exchanges and displacements that are draining the gold and silver of France.” Henry IV attempted to follow through on Laffemas’s ideas. For example, he personally supported the cultivation of mulberry trees in France, with the goal of increasing domestic silk production. This first attempt was not successful, but the effort would be taken up again, decades later, by Minister of State Jean-Baptiste Colbert, under King Louis XIV.
You can read an English translation of General pour Dresser les Manufactures in Fronsperger and Laffemas: 16th-Century Precursors of Modern Economic Ideas by Reinert and Rössner (2023). You can find more resources on Barthélemy de Laffemas and related topics by searching in the Library of Congress online catalog. Below are some suggested LC Subject Headings:
- Laffemas, Barthélemy de, sieur de Bausemblant, 1545-approximately 1612.
- Economics–Europe–History.
- Mercantile system–France.
- Silk industry.
This newly acquired copy of Laffamas’s work was purchased by the Library with funds from the Victor S. Clark Endowment, which supports the acquisition of rare books related to economic history. It is bound with approximately 40 other edicts and legal documents dated between 1551 and 1628. The physical volume is housed in the Law Library of Congress Rare Book Collections and available by appointment only. Please contact [email protected] for more information on accessing this volume.
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